Monday, January 18, 2010
What Would Martin Think?
What would Martin Luther King, Jr. think about the black community if he were alive today?
What would he think about how we have become apathetic about the “right to vote that he fought so hard and diligently for? Would he shed a tear for each night that he spent in jail so that we could sit at home on Election Day, unconcerned about the politics of the day?
Would he hang his head in shame to know that the beatings that he took and the lives that were lost were all in vain because we do not care enough about the world around us to go out and cast our ballots for what we believe in?
Would his eyes cloud over in anger to know that the things he gave his life for, the betterment of his race, the advancement of the Black Community and equal justice, have all been for naught?
What would Dr. King think about our youth today? The youth that was born of a proud people who respected life, family and most of all God? Would he become overcome with rage to know that mothers, grandmothers, and sisters are only seen as sex objects in songs and videos?
Would he be vexed at the notions that safe sex and not abstinence, is taught in school. That sex outside of marriage is okay as long as you use protection and birth control?
Would he become appalled at the sight of our young men wearing clothes that were born out of a prison culture and young women wearing clothes so revealing that they leave nothing to the imagination?
Would he cringe at the realization that it is no longer the Klu Klux Klan who is killing off our black men but instead our black men who are killing off each other?
What would his thoughts be about the black mother who once protected their young like a lioness protects her cubs who has now has become indifferent about her children to the point that she would allow them to suffer physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of her man just to keep him?
What would he see as he walked through a once thriving black neighborhood that was filled with prosperous black owned businesses? Boarded up, burnt out, and vacated buildings that were once at the very center of our black economy?
Would he look into the faces of our young men and women and see the next great leader who would guide the black community into our next victory? Would he be proud of the men and women whom we have chosen to be our political voices at the city, state and national levels to lead our causes and address our concerns?
What do you imagine he would say after visiting one of our neighborhood churches and seeing the lack of support that the church is giving back to the community? Would he be impressed with today’s mega-churches that have thousands in their congregation yet fails to help that same congregation with some of life’s most necessities like food, clothing, or housing?
Would the man who staged not one but two marches on Washington be impressed with the pastor who drives a Cadillac or maybe even a Rolls Royce while his congregation is forced to stand in the cold in the wee morning hours catching a bus to work each day?
How would Dr. King react to the notion that even though we are now in the twenty-first century not only are we discriminated against outside of our race but even within it? That the color of your skin, the grade of your hair, the job that you have are all factors that we judge one another by?
How would Martin feel as he looked into the eyes of the black father today? Would he see his own reflection? A man who believed in putting God and his family first or would he see a Godless man who shuns his responsibilities, leaving his children wondering when they will see their father again as their mother struggles alone to provide for them?
If he visited one of our schools, would he notice that the pledge of allegiance, our national anthem, and prayer are no longer allowed to be spoken aloud? Would he be horrified to see the next generation of our children fail because we have failed to provide them with an education?
Dr. King once said, “If you will protest courageously, and yet with dignity and Christian love, when the history books are written in future generations, the historians will have to pause and say, "There lived a great people - a black people - who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization."
Would Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. still think of us as a great people or would he turn his back so that no one could see the tears that he is now sheds as he stands on the mountaintop looking at today’s black man and woman?
I wonder, What would Martin think?
What would he think about how we have become apathetic about the “right to vote that he fought so hard and diligently for? Would he shed a tear for each night that he spent in jail so that we could sit at home on Election Day, unconcerned about the politics of the day?
Would he hang his head in shame to know that the beatings that he took and the lives that were lost were all in vain because we do not care enough about the world around us to go out and cast our ballots for what we believe in?
Would his eyes cloud over in anger to know that the things he gave his life for, the betterment of his race, the advancement of the Black Community and equal justice, have all been for naught?
What would Dr. King think about our youth today? The youth that was born of a proud people who respected life, family and most of all God? Would he become overcome with rage to know that mothers, grandmothers, and sisters are only seen as sex objects in songs and videos?
Would he be vexed at the notions that safe sex and not abstinence, is taught in school. That sex outside of marriage is okay as long as you use protection and birth control?
Would he become appalled at the sight of our young men wearing clothes that were born out of a prison culture and young women wearing clothes so revealing that they leave nothing to the imagination?
Would he cringe at the realization that it is no longer the Klu Klux Klan who is killing off our black men but instead our black men who are killing off each other?
What would his thoughts be about the black mother who once protected their young like a lioness protects her cubs who has now has become indifferent about her children to the point that she would allow them to suffer physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of her man just to keep him?
What would he see as he walked through a once thriving black neighborhood that was filled with prosperous black owned businesses? Boarded up, burnt out, and vacated buildings that were once at the very center of our black economy?
Would he look into the faces of our young men and women and see the next great leader who would guide the black community into our next victory? Would he be proud of the men and women whom we have chosen to be our political voices at the city, state and national levels to lead our causes and address our concerns?
What do you imagine he would say after visiting one of our neighborhood churches and seeing the lack of support that the church is giving back to the community? Would he be impressed with today’s mega-churches that have thousands in their congregation yet fails to help that same congregation with some of life’s most necessities like food, clothing, or housing?
Would the man who staged not one but two marches on Washington be impressed with the pastor who drives a Cadillac or maybe even a Rolls Royce while his congregation is forced to stand in the cold in the wee morning hours catching a bus to work each day?
How would Dr. King react to the notion that even though we are now in the twenty-first century not only are we discriminated against outside of our race but even within it? That the color of your skin, the grade of your hair, the job that you have are all factors that we judge one another by?
How would Martin feel as he looked into the eyes of the black father today? Would he see his own reflection? A man who believed in putting God and his family first or would he see a Godless man who shuns his responsibilities, leaving his children wondering when they will see their father again as their mother struggles alone to provide for them?
If he visited one of our schools, would he notice that the pledge of allegiance, our national anthem, and prayer are no longer allowed to be spoken aloud? Would he be horrified to see the next generation of our children fail because we have failed to provide them with an education?
Dr. King once said, “If you will protest courageously, and yet with dignity and Christian love, when the history books are written in future generations, the historians will have to pause and say, "There lived a great people - a black people - who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization."
Would Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. still think of us as a great people or would he turn his back so that no one could see the tears that he is now sheds as he stands on the mountaintop looking at today’s black man and woman?
I wonder, What would Martin think?
